August 7, 2008 (PR) Charlotte, NC.  When you turn on the news all you hear lately is about how bad the economy is.  Gas prices have risen to over $4.00 per gallon (recentlythey have backed off a little at $3.85 or so for the national average – regardless it is still hurting many Americans).  Add to this the recent commodities bull market (with items like corn and related products shooting up over 100%) and consumers get a double whammy at the grocery store.  Bottom line, the consumer is hurting.  So, MDWholesale.com and New Lite want to give you some great money saving tips to help you weather the current economic storm.

Money (or the lack of it) causes more pain and troubles than anything else.  Many relationships end up on the rocks or in divorce over financial problems.  So lets try and clear the air and get everyone started with a good financial foundation.  First, without even thinking about it cut up every store credit card you have.  Then follow this by cutting up every card except for one (you will probably need one card for emergencies and such).  That’s it.  No more credit cards or store cards.  All they do, especially the store cards, is entice you to buy more than you normally would – “Oh, I don’t have to pay for it now so it’s good.”  That is how the majority of people walking around with over $50,000 in credit card debt get started. 

It all starts with one little card and that first non essential purchase.  It seems so innocent, but then it builds and builds.  Did you know that in America the average credit card debt per household is now over $10,000!  And to top it off, the average interest rate is 16% (they range from 9% on up to 29%)!  Let’s just stick with 16% for now.  If you pay just the minimum you will take 10 to 20 years or more to ever pay off these cards.  Let’s just say for convenience that you pay it off in 10 years.  That’s 10 years multiplied by 16% which is 160% interest (it’s actually a lot worse as credit card companies use daily compounded interest).  Well, for the sake of this argument and to quickly clarify this, $10,000 times 160% would be $16,000 in interest and you add that to the original $10,000 to get $26,000.

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Now this is if you never miss a payment or are late on a payment.  You know what happens if you are late for just 1 payment, right?  They jump your interest rate to the state allowed maximum which can be as high as 29% or even higher (in most cases it depends on the state in which you reside).  So, next time you want to buy those fancy clothes, restaurant meals, etc… on credit just ask yourself this one question to bring it back into perspective – “Is it really worth paying at least 160% more than the price for this item and is it really necessary?”  That should make you stop dead in your tracks and reshelf that item – unless, of course, it is something that you really need.

So, get rid of all your credit and store cards (save one for emergencies).  Then, here comes the most important step of all – pay yourself first!  Have you ever heard of this?  Instead of working to pay the credit card bills and such, take 10% or so off every paycheck and pay yourself.  This does not mean spend it or otherwise blow it.  It means to take 10% of your paycheck and put it in a well diversified mutual fund or ETF (Exchange Traded Fund).  This way you can build your nest egg and eventually get your money to earn more than you do – this is your ticket to leave the quintisential or proverbial rat race.  If you make it automatic so it comes right off before you ever even see it – even better.  You will learn to make do with 10% less and in many cases if you do this through work like a 401k plan you can even deduct this from your taxes.  This is one of the secrets of the rich – they know all the loopholes and pay less in taxes percentagewise than anyone else. 

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That’s enough to get you started and if you want to learn more about how to save money and other great tips with an automotive slant please visit :

Great automotive and money saving tips.  These money saving tips are brought to you by MDWholesale.com and their award winning product, New Lite headlight cleaner.  For more information on cloudy headlights and headlight restoration please visit www.mdwholesale.com.

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